Crane turntable



Jan. 2, 1945;

J. D. RAUCH CRANE TURNTABLE Original Filed Oct. 25; 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet1 1945- J. D. RAUCH CRANE TURNTABLE- Original Filed uct. 25, 1941 2sheets -sheet 2 r i Patented Jan. 2, 1945 S I OFFI 1 CRANE TURNTABLE nJohn 1D. Ranch, Fort Wayne, me. Original application October 25, 1941,Serial No. 416,557, now Patent No. 2,343,800, dated March 7-, 1944.Divided and this application January 8,1944, Serial No. 517,562, A i

1 Claim. or 212- 9) This applicationis a division of my copendwingapplication for patent Serial No. 1416557,

. filed October 25, 1941, noWPatent No." 2,343,800 granted March 7,1944.

My invention relates known as revolving or full circle cranes of the towhatare generally housings-5. of conventional construction. The

front wheelunit l is connected with the rear wheel unit 2 by means ofside frame :or' chassis power shovel, dragline, clamshell, andhoistingtypes. i The primary object of my invention has been to provide novelmeans formounting the rotating platform of a revolving crane structureupon the supporting member of the vehicle, wherein the platform is'rotativelysupported upon ball bearings and adjustablevhook-underrollers are provided on the platform for. cooperation with a part of:the supporting member for securing the plat.-

form rotativelytosaid member.

Atfull understanding of. myinvention .will be had on reference to thefollowing detailed de+ scription and to the accompanying drawings, in--which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of the revolving body of. thecrane as .mounted on its wheeledsupports, though other types of tractionmay be employed, and .disclosingthe rotative mountingmeans for the bodyon the turntable support of thesupport or running ear. l Figure 2 is abottom refiectedview of therotat- 1112 P m and a p rt of he bo s ppo tinmember, the latter beingshown in section and certain otherwparts insection said view showing the disposition of the, bearing meansinterconnecting therotating platform with the bodysu pt- Por m ber a a Hi I, Figure 3 is an end yiew of parts shown in Figure 5, looking towardthe left respecting Figure 5.

Figure 4 is a top view of .partsshown in Figure 5. Figure. 5 is asectional view showing in detail the hook-under. roller and bracketassembly and the rotatingplat form. g

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing the invention, itis notablethat the illusthemanner in which the same is mounted upondiate the partsof the chassis and running gear.

"mdesigned to be carried by the frame and axle and .wheelassemblyabove.described,-said body There is providedabodysupportingmember supporting member according. to the illustration of thedrawings being designed for carrying the rotating platform of arevolving crane structure. -With this purpose in mind, therefore, the

supporting .member H] has a circular coinfigurationandcompirises aninternal swing gear lZ, in

this instance designed to be stationary relatively to the platformandbeing engaged by the usual swing pinion I3 carried by the platformHand directly mounted upon "the swing shaft I4 sup-' ported, on theplatform. The platform ll, of

course, will carry the-crane bodypr housing such as customarily employedfor enclosing the a crane operatinggmechanism by which the excavatingtration given is for an adaptation of the invention to so-called powercranes of the shovel dragline or clamshell, types wherein there isusually em: ployed arevolving crane body.

The construction shown comprises the front axle I and rear axle 2 whichmay be of a conventional type including axle housings in which driveshafts are mounted for driving the front wheels 3 from the front axleunit I and the rear wheels 4 from the rear axle unit 2 Each of theseaxle units l and 2 is equipped with transmission instrumentalities ofthe crane are actuated, this mechanism housing including certain drumand. cable equipment. Llkewisagthe controls for the operation of drivingthe vehicle and steering it and for braking :the wheels, will bemountedfin the-crane body.

In certain types of revolving cranesno crane body or.housingconstruction is required,:under which conditions thisfeature ofthe vehicle of my invention may be omitted.

Likewise, itis to be understood that Within the purview of l theinvention the body supporting member in may support a tank body or anyother kind of super-structure such as found useful in this art.Wherelthe tank body may comprise a revolving turret the supportingmember l0 may comprise the gear structure illustrated and the swingpinion and shaft featuresmay be used for accomplishing. the revolutionof the turret structure. l

The details of the traction support shown are not material to thepresent invention and are set forth in the application above identified.This.

also applies to the transmission and wheel drivgearing, asi1lustrated,received in the customary m features illustrated but notdescribed- I now describe the novel method of mounting the rotatingplatform ll upon the supporting member 90 which I find to be highlyadvantageous. The structure shown in the drawings avails of both ballbearings and what I call hook-under rollers for the mounting of therotating platform H upon the supporting member while enabling theplatform to rotate relatively to the supporting member.

As shown in the drawings, the upper side of the supporting member ID isprovided with an annular groove Na, and secured to the under side of theplatform I I is a ring 66 likewise provided with a similar correspondingannulargroove 56a. These grooves Illa and 66a provide a race for ballbearings 61 which are provided in the groove Illa so that the weight ofthe platform II is rotatively supported on said balls.

The supporting member I is provided with an annular flange 68 andthereare provided at the under side of the platform H a plurality of spacedrollers 69 mounted on the stub-shaft journaled in angle brackets Hsecured to the under side of the platform H by suitable bolts 72. Theserollers 59 are adapted to engage the under edge of the annular flange 68so as to secure the platform ll rotatively to body supporting memberIE1, or, in other words, to prevent separation of the parts I l and [0while permitting relative rotation thereof. The angle brackets H arepreferably provided with elongated slots 73 through which the securingbolts i2 pass into the under side of the platform ll. 1 The purpose ofproviding the elongated slots in the angle brackets H is to provide foradjustment of the rollers 69 inwardly toward the body supporting memberill to take up for wear. It will be noted that the under side of theflange 68 is tapered upwardly outwardly, and the rollers 69 are eachprovided with a correspondingly tapered or conical periphery. As therollers 69 and flange 68 wear in use, the resulting play may be taken upor eliminated by loosening the bolts 72 and moving the bracket llrelatively to bolts 12 by reason of the elongated slot 13, so that therollers 69 more closely engage the tapered under edge of the flange 68.1

7 Any desired number of the hook-under roller members each comprising abracket H and a roller 69 mounted on a stub-shaft 10 journaled in saidbracket may be availed of, but I find that the use of four of suchmembers provided on the platform ll so as to cooperate with thesupporting member H) at points equally spaced therearound is quitesatisfactory.

Each of the brackets H has its upper leg Ha provided with a groove Hbextending in the direction of the axis of rotation of the roller 69relative to its bracket H. In this groove 'Hb is guidingly received oneof the bars 14 which are welded to the bottom of theplatform H andradially. disposed relative to the-center of flange 68.

rotation of the platform H respecting the supporting member ID. Theprovision of the radially disposed bars 14 cooperating with the groovesNb of their respective brackets 1| serves to guide the brackets radiallyrelative to the center of rotation of the platform ll respecting thesupporting member III for proper adjustment of the roller membersrelative to the flange 68.

It will be noted that'the means for rotatively mounting the platform llrelative to the supporting member ID just described eliminates thenecessity for a center pin such as commonly used in similar types ofcrane construction wherein the crane body or super-structure is adaptedto rotate relative to the supporting structure. The provision of myinvention for adjustability of the roller members to take up play causedby wear of the parts functions to center the platform ll rotativelyrelative to the base and eliminates the need for a center pin to centerthe relatively rotating parts, which center pin would otherwise berequired were it not forthe adjutaability of the roller member of myconstruction to take up for wear.

My contruction for mounting the platform rotatively relative to thesupporting member also has advantages in reference to ease of assemblyof the rotating member ll relative to the supporting member In by reasonof the fact that the ball bearings 6! may be emplaced in the annulargroove Ilia, the body N then placed in supporting position upon theballbearings, and then the brackets ll carrying the roller members 69 mayafterwards be bolted in position and properly-adjusted forcooperationwith the The bolts 12 for adjustment of the roller members are readilyaccessible for adjustment of the brackets carrying the same, as will beapparent.

Having. thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

In vehicle structure of the class described, in combination, a bodysupporting member, a body member, bearing means intermediate saidmembers for rotatively supporting the body member relative to thesupporting member, and other bearing means carried by the body memberand cooperable with said supporting member for maintaining said membersagainst vertical separation, said other bearing means comprising rollersthe peripheries of which are oflike conica1 taper for engagement withthe under side of said flange, and means for adjusting said rollersincluding guide members carried by the body member and disposed radiallyrelative to the axis of rotation thereof, and guiding means for each'ofsaid rollers'and disposed'parallel to the axis of rotation of itsrespective roller andcooperable with the guide members for movement ofthe rollers in the direction of their respective axes radiallyrespecting the axis of rotation of the body member, said supportingmember and said body member provided with mating annular groovesconcentric with the axis of rotation of.

